A Magical Experience called Urvashi.
It was era of 1993~94 wherein a new age music director had taken the nation by storm and Bengaluru was no exception. His name sold like Magic, the name was AR Rehman.
After his first hit of "Roja", he had come up with another blockbuster called "Thiruda-Thiruda" with westernised beats. The music album was released much before the movie and it had made fans eagerly wait for the movie to release. The beats used in the song "Konjum Niluvum" had made the fans go crazy.
It was the dark era of Cauvery dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, but art was beyond all politics and conflicts. The movie released to packed houses and people just went crazy. Although, it was released in various theatres, every body had the same feedback, "If at all you watch the movie, watch it in Urvashi theatre and nowhere else."
I did watch, and honestly, it was not a movie, it was an experience and an amazing one at that.
I don't understand music, nor am I qualified to comment about nuances of music, but the notification before the start of the movie "This theatre is equipped with Dolby Stereo" made all the difference.
I could not pin point what exactly it was, but I felt the music and sound effects in this theatre was different compared to other theatres. The clinging sound of printing machines, the chugging of the train in the movie all felt so surreal as if all of it was happening within the theatre.
When the song "Kannum-Kannum" started the whole theatre had gone into celebration mode. Surprisingly, I heard that the movie did not do well in Tamil Nadu, and in Bengaluru it was a Smash hit.
But, the real game changer was when the movie "Kaadhalan" released and the song "Oorvasi-Oorvasi" sounded more like a dedication to Urvashi theatre and this time the theatre had danced along with Prabhudeva.
From there on, the name AR.Rehman and Urvashi theatre became synonyms. The list of movies released goes on, Bombay, Dil Se, Rangeela, Kaadhal Desham and so on. If AR Rehman is a craze in Bengaluru, he owes it to Urvashi theatre.
Various other movies also had their fortunes ringing here, In Titanic for instance, the scene where the Engine direction is changed to avoid colliding with Iceberg was so natural that it felt as if a Piston is operating right next to me. It was not loudness of the sound, but the frequency and the feel of sound which made the difference, and this, created memories for most of us who watched movies in this magical place.
Change is the only thing that is constant, the era of Multiplexes started seeping in around 2003~04 and many single screen theatres started slowly making way for multiplexes and some demolished to be replaced by commercial complexes.
Amidst the changing dynamics of the city with respect to real estate, despite the OTT craze among people, and the drop in footfalls for movies even in multiplexes, Urvashi still stood strong and screened major blockbusters like KGF, Kantaara, Avatar etc.
Alas, the prevailing dispute between land owner and the theatre operator ended up in litigation and now the owners of the property have decided to shut down the legendary theatre in February 2026. The Screen will be permanently down.
Although the memories will be cherished, its tragic that there wont be any new memories in this legendary theatre.
The lines, "...Take it easy Policy" from the song Oorvasi-Oorvasi will not be applicable here, this policy cant be taken easily.
Miss you dear Urvashi.
